Between Two Desks with Bryan Moore

Welcome to Between Two Desks, an interview series where St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Commissioner Dr. Dick Kaiser talks with Athletic Directors from around the league. Throughout the series get to learn more about each school's A.D., how they got to the position they are in, and why they love working in athletics. Today we meet Bryan Moore, Athletic Director at Eureka College.

Not many individuals get the opportunity to return to a position they left a few years earlier to see if the grass was truly greener on the other side of the fence. But that's just what happened to Bryan Moore, the Athletic Director of Eureka College, and he'll be the first to tell you he is eternally grateful for his second chance.  I recently had the opportunity to speak with Bryan in an extended interview and these are some excerpts from that discussion.

How long have you been at Eureka College?
I have been given the opportunity to work at Eureka twice. The first time I was the Sports Information Director from 2009-2014. I left the institution at the conclusion of 2014 to work as a copywriter for Morton Buildings Corporation. However, in 2016, the then A.D. at Eureka, Steve Thompson, and I connected and I was thankfully given the opportunity to return to once again to become the S.I.D. by both President Wright and Thompson. After Thompson left the college in 2018, I was provided the opportunity to become the college's Athletic Director.

Where did you grow up?
I have basically spent my whole life in Central Illinois. I grew up in Peoria and attended East Peoria Community High School, so I guess I would definitely call myself a local boy at heart. Frankly, I don't see my family leaving the area anytime soon as both my parents and my wife's parents live in the area plus we like it here. This definitely is where we have established our roots.

Did you participate in sports in high school?
I was a football and baseball player in high school for all four years. I loved basketball too but I wasn't good enough so I stuck to the other sports and enjoyed my experience. The high school football team was not very good while I attended, in fact, I think we only won five games in my entire career. I played both defensive back and was also a wide receiver. The baseball team at the high school was pretty good. We always competed for league championships so eventually, baseball turned into my favorite and I had a good four years. We had a close-knit group of players that stayed together throughout our years in high school and American Legion ball where I played in the outfield. I'd say we had some pretty good players and several had the opportunity to go on and play collegiate ball.

Where did you attend college and what took up time in college?
I'm a Leatherneck from Western Illinois University and I didn't play athletics in college. But that doesn't mean I wasn't connected to athletics, in fact, I had a great experience. I was a broadcasting major at Western Illinois and the school had a student-operated TV station at the college that broadcast many of the college's sporting events. I was chosen as a play-by-play announcer within the program and I had some tremendous experiences traveling with the football team to places like LSU, Nebraska, NCAA play-off games at Montana, and other really large Division 1 sports contests. It was a great experience and served as a springboard to what I hoped would be a sports broadcasting career.

What convinced you to go into athletics as a profession and what were some of your important career stops?
Besides my unique experience at Western Illinois, in 2005 I was able to secure an internship with the Peoria Chiefs, a minor league baseball team in my hometown. I was paid a grand total of $400 a month and I worked close to 70 hours a week…but loved it. The job had me doing everything from game notes, media releases, interviews and I even would do a few innings of play by play. That job spurned my interest in making a career in minor league baseball. Unfortunately, it didn't work out the way I had hoped and so right out of college in the summer of 2006, I took a position at a TV station but I really didn't enjoy it.  In the fall of 2007, I got the chance to go to Bradley University as a graduate student and worked as the graduate assistant S.I.D. for about half the sports for two years. During my time, Bradley had a great soccer team that made it to the Elite 8 and I was the main media source. I also got to manage the live stream of basketball productions.

Are there any specific individuals that feel were great mentors that helped you along the way?
First would be Buzz Hoon, a faculty member at Western Illinois in the sport's broadcasting program. He was always supportive of the students and was just a great leader for the program. He was very influential in my development as a student in the field of broadcasting. Another individual at Western Illinois that was a mentor was the Head Football Coach, Don Patterson. Because I did the football broadcasts, he was willing to take the time with me to edit the film for the highlight shows and was just always available. The third individual would have to be Nathan Baliva, who served as the Chiefs Public Relations person.  He helped me when I did my internship with the Peoria Chiefs by teaching me the proper ways to write press releases. And lastly would be Steve Thompson, the former A.D., at Eureka College. When I came back to Eureka, he got me more involved in different aspects of athletics than just being the S.I.D. He allowed me to peek behind the curtain of how athletic administration actually worked.

What experiences along the way best prepared you to become an Athletic Director?
I have been very fortunate to have some tremendous work-oriented internships and work experiences. Obviously, the time I spent at Western Illinois getting to do sports broadcasting was very important, but so was my summer I spent with the Peoria Chiefs. Both of those provided me with so much hands-on experience that was invaluable in my professional development. My first experience at Eureka was where I really got my feet wet in the world of actually doing day-to-day work in the intercollegiate world. Then when I returned to Eureka in 2016, I was given more responsibility as an administrator and I really developed a broader background as an athletic administrator.

What do you find most rewarding about your current Athletic Director position?
First and foremost, I enjoy seeing the success of the student-athletes. The success is not necessarily always tied to wins and losses but more so to the personal gains and the development of them as a person. I really enjoy graduation day to see the smiles not only of the students but also the families of the students. For many, this may be the first generation individual that has ever graduated from college from their family, so the diploma and graduation are a big thing for all of those concerned. And lastly, I really enjoy seeing our coaches have success. Eureka has made some real headway in facilities and producing a positive atmosphere for the student-athlete experience. Some of our longer-term coaches have seen the fruits of their labor and I'm really happy when they succeed.

Not counting the pandemic, what have you found to be the most taxing as it relates to your position?
One of our biggest challenges at Eureka is to continue to grow as a college and continue to build our roster sizes. This is obviously important to athletics but it is just as important to the general well-being of the college. We need to make sure we can field full teams in all sports which will eventually allow us to continue to improve our competitiveness. I would also say one of the more difficult things in becoming an A.D. is the amount of time you spend either on the job, thinking about the responsibilities of the job, and then juggling all of that with family responsibilities. We have a young family and balancing both the job and the family can be interesting at times. Then lastly, I would say it's interesting about how many phone calls you get about 'bad things going on' versus getting phone calls when someone is congratulating the department on something that has been well done. Those calls can really destroy an already full day's agenda and most of the time they need your immediate attention.

As a coach or administrator, what has been a real highlight in your career?
Number one, I am really proud of the progress and success we have had in the area of Eureka College athletic facility enhancement and improvement. Much of the groundwork was laid before I became the A.D., but we obviously are now enjoying all that has been accomplished. I think the college has developed a really positive and interactive gameday experience for not only the student-athletes but also for the fans. Eureka is a fun place to be on any given football Saturday and we hope to continue to expand on those experiences. In the 2018-2019 academic year, Eureka won three SLIAC championships plus the football team won their league and went to the NCAA playoffs. That was a great year and one that will be celebrated for quite some time.

What advice would you give to every student-athlete about their college experience?
I would say most importantly the student-athletes need to get involved in more than just their sport. I feel the more that student-athletes can do outside of their sport, the better. Division III students that attend small colleges like Eureka have such great opportunities to become engaged in so many things. They have a chance to broaden their experience and begin to build life-long friendships by being a part of the entire college.

Finally, as we close this Q & A, please tell me about your family.
My wife, Laura, and I have been married for eight years. She is a 2010 graduate of Eureka College and works as a high school math teacher plus the head volleyball coach at East Peoria Community High School. Our two little boys, Bennett (4) and Charlie (1), keep our lives very busy with their non-stop energy.

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